If Autism could Speak…

I have a beautiful wife who loves me. I have a super 6-year-old son who has autism. I have a terrific 3-year-old girl who thinks she’s 13-years-old. I live in the greatest state in the USA (Texas of course) I have a job that I enjoy, I have my health. We are blessed.

HOWEVER…if this is the season of Christmas wishes and dreams…then I’ll be the first to get in line with my request.

I want a conversation with my son. Not just a “yes” or “no” conversation but one where he’s asking me so many questions that my head is about to explode.

A conversation where he tells me what he wants, what he’s afraid of, what he imagines and all that stuff.

Is that too much to ask?

My son has autism. We are so blessed to have friends, family, loved ones who support and encourage us. He attends an amazing school in our city where he is getting great attention and services and he’s doing the best be can. Mentally he’s where he needs to be. Physically he’s close to where he needs to be. Socially he’s behind and verbally he’s pretty far behind.

I know I shouldn’t complain…but it’s times when I’m in the store or watching TV or whatever and I see a dad and son talking and I get angry and sad and think, “I want that!”

I want to tell my son to “STOP TALKING”…I can’t even imagine that.

I want to try and explain crazy questions like “Daddy, does God go to the bathroom?” and all those bizarre questions that kids through out at their parents.

He has come a long way. Maybe in time he will be spontaneous with his speech. Maybe he will begin to initiate conversations about random things–not just when he wants a drink or is hungry.

I want to talk to him and ask him about stemming…I want to ask him what he sees and how he sees the world. It has to be fantastic…I would love for him to be able to express how he views things vs. how typical people might view things.

I doubt that will ever happen–he’d have to have an understanding of how typical people view things first…and I doubt that’s all that easy. But it would be cool wouldn’t it?

I want to talk to him about his friends. What kind of games does he play at school? What did he learn in class? What is he interested in?

Buying Christmas presents for my son is very hard because he can’t express to us what he wants…”do you want this?” we ask…and maybe he’ll understand but he can’t answer the question “What would you like for Christmas?”

It’s not fair that a 6-year-old can’t tell you what they want for Christmas…just sucks.

So if I get to stand in line and wait to sit on Santa’s lap and give him my Christmas wish…that’s it. I want to have a long conversation with my son…and world peace.

To read more blogs from Seth and TheFowler4Group, check out their Website (www.lookatmyeyes.com) and while you’re there, buy a copy of their book, “Look At My Eyes”. To contact TheFowler4 Group email: info@thefowler4group.com

One response to “If Autism could Speak…”

I was reading this and thinking “did I write this?” You have the exact same situation as I except my six year old is a girl. I get so jealous when I see another parent having a two way conversation with their kids. We’ve made strides over the years in communication and one of the things that helps is her teacher sends home a note of things she did at school that day. It helps because if I ask “what did you do at school today?” it is too broad and I don’t get much of an answer. But if I can focus the scope so that we ask her about the items the teacher wrote down then I can get a partial conversation going which is better than nothing and helps us understand how to structure our speech when working with her.